Quiet Me
by Stacymc2012
Summary: That one hit Regina close to home. Unable to contain herself, she raised her hand to use magic against the slanderous person when suddenly she felt someone come up behind her and gently squeeze her shoulder. The person said...


**Hello again! So this was a prompt given to me. It was "Quiet Me" in which one character has to calm the other one down for whatever reason. As you can see, this was my couple of choice! Enjoy!**

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Regina put her hand through her raven hair as she walked to the coffee shop. She couldn't believe all that'd happened. She really just was not destined to be happy, huh? She couldn't help but wonder who she'd pissed off to wish this upon her.

The former mayor was so lost in thought; she didn't realize she was walking straight into someone until she'd actually bumped into them. "You!" The accusatory tone in the person's voice caused her eyebrow to rise.

Regina sighed inwardly and tried not to get annoyed with this peeved citizen. She tried to remember what Archie had taught her during their therapy sessions. _"Count to ten in your head, and breathe." _She knew what was coming next; angry rambling about what she'd taken away from them by getting them stuck in this world, blah, blah, blah… Or so she thought.

"What in the world made you some damn twisted that you would curse a whole land?! Why would you do that? What is wrong with you?!" They screamed at her.

They were attracting attention from people passing by and she didn't like that at all. She was losing her patience. She was beginning to feel threatened; she was bound to attack soon…

Regina took a breath, "Look, I am very sorry for whatever you lo-"

They cut off her apology, "What made you into such a horrible, evil, cold, heartless human being?!" They snapped at her.

That one hit Regina close to home. Unable to contain herself, she raised her hand to use magic against the slanderous person when suddenly she felt someone come up behind her and gently squeeze her shoulder. The person said, "That's enough, Mrs. Franklins!"

The woman huffed and carried on. Regina turned around and was surprised to find Archie standing there, his hand now wrapped around her forearm. He gently lowered her arm, his tone still calm, "C'mon," he kept his voice soft as he then led Regina up to his apartment which was just a few yards away.

The brunette followed, eyebrows furrowed in confusion again. Why was he helping her? Why did he care enough to defend her? But, more importantly, she was a bit rattled by what the Mrs. Franklins had said…

Archie let her into his sanctuary and smiled at her, "I'll make you some tea."

He quickly went into the kitchen which was adjacent to the spacious living room she now stood in. It was a calming shade of pale blue while the rest of his furniture was white or glass. It was such a serene place, Regina felt calmness engulf her.

"Regina, you can take a seat," Archie motioned for her to do so as Pongo ran to her to greet her as she was sitting down.

He barked as he sniffed her and Regina smiled a bit and petted him. Pongo's tail wagged quickly. "Well, finally there's someone who's happy to see me," she whispered inwardly, but Archie heard it.

He walked over to her with some tea and sugar. "Here you go, are you alright?" He asked her.

She turned her attention to him, but didn't look at him in the eye as she sweetened her tea, "Yes, I'm alright…"

"But…?" He urged her lightly.

"I don't think this helping, Archie, I don't think I can redeem myself or be a better person. I'm too screwed up for that…" She refused to look at him.

Archie frowned as he sat beside her. Taking her chin gently into his hands, which then cupped her face, so she'd look at him. "Regina, don't say that. Don't you dare give up now. We've made so much progress… I know you can do it. You have it in you. You're ambitious and you never let anybody tell you "no", so don't you dare start to now."

Tears were welling up in her chocolate eyes and Archie swallowed at the sight. A broken sob left her lips softly and he pulled her close, hugging her tightly whilst rubbing her back. "You can do it, Regina, I know you can. You've never been one to lie down and give up easily, don't start now." He said into her ear.

She let another little sob out and sighed, "Yeah, you… You're right." She sniffed a bit.

Archie smiled slightly, "I'm always right."

She let out a small chuckle and pulled away from him slowly. "It's just… What they said and I was going to kill them if you hadn't come and stopped me, Archie. What kind of progress is that?"

"Did you want to eradicate her off the face of the earth immediately?" He asked her suddenly.

Regina blinked, "Yes."

"And did you?"

"I… No, I didn't… I tried to be patient…" She frowned a bit.

"Well, then there's your answer. You're trying, and you know what? Nobody else may see the effort, but I do. And you're doing great." He gave her a soft smile and kissed her forehead before he could stop himself. He looked at her with wide eyes and waited for a slap in the face.

However, Regina found herself leaning against him and eventually laying her head on his shoulder. Well, this was new… Alright, he could do this…. Archie leaned back in the couch and put his arm around her shoulders. Perhaps he should try to calm her down more often?


End file.
